CHICAGO, Ill. (December 18, 2022)
 
In Short…
Philip Alston recorded his first double-double in the Maroon & Gold, while three other Ramblers scored in double figures as Loyola Chicago led wire-to-wire in a 68-56 victory over UAlbany Sunday afternoon inside Gentile Arena. Ben Schwieger scored 15, Marquise Kennedy added 13 while Braden Norris scored 12 points to go along with seven assists as the Ramblers shot at or above 50% from the field for the fifth consecutive game.
 
How It Happened
Ben Schwieger opened the scoring with a 3-pointer 15 seconds into the contest, and Marquise Kennedy took advantage of an errant Great Dane pass for a breakaway layup as Loyola jumped out to a 5-0 lead less than a minute into the game. The lead grew to 8-0 before UAlabny got on the board and the Ramblers would take a 10-4 lead into the first media timeout. Schwieger led the way with eight of Loyola's 10 points on a perfect 3-for-3 shooting.
 
Four quick points out of the break pushed the advantage to 14-4 and forced the Great Danes to burn a timeout with 14:50 remaining in the first half. The Ramblers hot shooting continued as a floater in the lane by Philip Alston and a pair of free throws from Braden Norris gave Loyola n 18-8 lead at the under-12 timeout. The Ramblers opened the game 7-for-10 from the field to keep the Great Danes at bay.
 
Loyola's defense began to turn it up, keeping UAlbany off the scoreboard for over two minutes as the Ramblers maintained their advantage, leading 26-15 with just over seven minutes left in the opening half. Schwieger reached double figures on a dunk off the Norris feed to improve to 4-for-4 from the floor before Philip Alston converted in the paint to push the Rambler lead to a game-high 14 points with 3:47 to play.
 
After taking a 37-28 lead into the halftime break, Alston became the second Rambler to reach double figures, as his his tip-in with 16:49 left in the second half gave him 11 in the game. Norris, who was held to six first-half points, scored six more over the first 6+ minutes in the second half on a pair of triples to push the Loyola advantage back to 11 at 45-34 with 13:38 remaining.
 
UAlbany climbed back to get within four at 46-42 with just over 11 minutes left, but five consecutive points by Marquise Kennedy ended the Great Dane run and helped kickstart a 9-2 Rambler scoring spurt.
 
Following the run, which pushed the advantage to 11 points, the Ramblers would maintain at least a nine-point lead for the final eight minutes of the contest. Loyola's final five points in the game came from the free throw line to close out the 68-56 victory.
 
Inside The Box Score

• Sunday was the fifth-straight game in which the team shot 50% or better from the field. Loyola finished the game 24-for-48 (50%) from the field, including a scorching 58.3% effort in the first half.
• Loyola was +10 in the rebounding battle, collecting 38 boards to the 28 by the Great Danes.
• Norris recorded seven assists for the second consecutive game, and third time this season, all of which are season highs.
• The Ramblers led wire-to-wire Sunday, scoring the first basket of the game 15 seconds in and leading for the remaining 39:45.
• The seven blocked shots are a new season high for the team. Tom Welch and Schwieger had a pair while Alston, Jayden Dawson and Saint Thomas all had one.

 
Up Next
Loyola hits the road for the final time in nonconference play on Thursday, December 22, when the Ramblers head west to take on Stanford. Tip-off inside the Kaiser Permanente Arena, home to the Santa Cruz Warriors of the NBA G League, is set for 9 p.m. (CT).